Maintaining synchronization between live streaming videos and additional sources of contextually-related data (e.g., on a companion device) has a number of issues; (note that what is a “live” broadcast can vary from provider to provider, e.g., there are different delays experienced by viewers having different broadcasters). One issue arises in that the user may want to pause/stop/rewind/fast forward, yet maintain the timeline synchronization between video and data.
For example, consider a viewer watching the live video of a professional martial arts-type/ultimate fighting event on a display driven by a gaming console or other entertainment device. The console or other entertainment device is capable of presenting statistical data about the event, e.g., from an external source that is separate from the video feed. However, as the viewer pauses, stops, rewinds and fast forwards so that the video is no longer live, the statistical data needs to be presented to the viewer in such a way that it does not give away even a hint as to the outcome, as doing so may ruin/spoil the experience for the viewer.
It is also desirable to link and synchronize the display of interactive input. This needs to be done in a way that allows different types of users to effectively have the same experience, that is, the experience may be the same for users viewing the “head” of the feed as well as users who joined the stream late and as a result are watching a delayed live stream.